Jesus, Our Great High Priest

During the months of September, October, & November we will be doing an in depth study into the book of Hebrews.  This will be during our 8.45am & 11am worship services.

The more that I study the book of Hebrews the more I realize I do not know as much about this book as I thought.  It has some beautiful passages that I remember memorizing as a child.  Passages like Hebrews 4.12: "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  But then it has areas of the book that I don't understand ----- like how the word cross is only used one time in the entire book ----- even though it is filled with imagery of sacrifice.

As we have been studying this book we have learned that a large portion of this book is a sermon.  Or maybe a better way to describe it is as a sermon of sermons.  The preacher uses the Old Testament to preach these sermons.  We learned through our studying that we need to have a better grasp of the book of Leviticus in order to better understand Hebrews.  Below you will find a reading guide that will help you study Leviticus and Hebrews side-by-side ------ week after week.

Finally, what we will find throughout the book of Hebrews is an urgent call by a pastor to a congregation to not give up!  To persevere in the faith.  Thomas G. Long describes Hebrews this way: "The preacher is not preaching into a vacuum; he is addressing a real and urgent pastoral problem, one that seems astonishingly contemporary.  His congregation is exhausted.  They are tired----tired of serving the world, tired of worship, tired of Christian education, tired of being peculiar and whispered about in society, tired of spiritual struggle, tired of trying to keep their prayer life going, tired even of Jesus ....... Tired of walking the walk, many of them are considering taking a walk, leaving the community and falling away from the faith."  In the midst of this lethargy and ambiguity toward church ----- the preacher does something interesting.  Long continues by writing: "The Preacher does not appeal to improved group dynamics, conflict management techniques, reorganization of the mission structures, or snappy worship services.  Rather, he preaches----preaches to the congregation in complex theological terms about the nature and meaning of Jesus Christ."

We would like to invite you to dive in deeply into the book of Hebrews.  Let us learn together how Jesus is our Great High Priest.

• Sept. 2^nd : Sermon based on Hebrews 1
  • Read: Hebrews 1 & Leviticus 1-3
  • See also: Heb:10:4-9 & 5:10; Ps. 2:7; 2 Sam. 7:14; Deut. 32:43; Ps. 104:4; Ps. 45:6-7; Ps. 102:25-27; Ps.110:1.
• Sept. 9^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 2
  • Read: Hebrews 2 & Leviticus 4-5
  • See also: Ps. 8:4-6, 22:22; Isa. 8:17-18
• Sept. 16^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 3:1-6
  • Read: Hebrews 3 & Leviticus 6-7
  • See also: Heb. 9:11-16; Num. 12; Lev. 8; Ps. 95:7-11; Jer. 17:5; Num. 14:1-4, 34, 41.
• Sept. 23^rd: Sermon based on Hebrews 4:12-16
  • Read: Hebrews 4 & Leviticus 8-9
  • See also: Lev.4:1-12; Num.13:30-14:10; Ps.95:7-10; Gen. 2:2; Ex. 28:1; Ps. 2:7, 110;
• Sept. 30^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 5:1-10
  • Read: Hebrews 5 & Leviticus 10-11
  • See also: Gen. 22:16-18; Ex. 26:31-35; Lev. 16:2
• Oct. 7^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 7
  • Read: Hebrews 6-7 & Leviticus 12-14
  • See also: Lev. 7:22-38,; Ps. 110:4; Gen. 14; Num. 18:21-24; Deut. 26:12; 1 Chron. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-17.
• Oct. 14^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 9:11-28
  • Read: Hebrews 8-9 & Leviticus 15-16
  • See also: Read Heb. 9 and Lev. 16 together carefully. Ps.110; Lev. 5:11-13, 4:1-12, 9; Jer. 31:31-34; Ex. 16:32-34, 24:3-8, 25-26, 30:6; Lev. 24:5; Num. 17:1-10, 19:1-10; Isa. 53:12.

• Oct. 21^st: Sermon based on Hebrews 10:11-25
  • Read: Hebrews 10 & Leviticus 16-17
  • See also: Ps. 40:6-8, 50:8-15, 110; Lev. 4; 1 Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:10-17, 26:20; Jer. 7:21-26, 31:33-34; Hos. 6:6; Deut. 17:2-6, 32:35-36; Hab. 2:3-4.
• Oct. 28^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 11:1-19
  • Read: Hebrews 11 & Leviticus 18-19
  • See also: Ps. 33:6, 89:52; Gen. 4:3-10, 5:21-24, 6:13-22, 15:5-6, 12:1-8, 17:19, 18:11-14, 21:2-12, 22:1-17, 27:27-40, 32:12, 47:31-50:25, Ex. 2:2-15, 12:21-30,13:9, 14:21-30; Jos. 2:1-21, 6:12-25; Judg. 4-8, 11-12, 13-16; Dan. 3 & 6; 1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:25-37; 2 Chron. 24:20-22; Jer. 26:23.
• Nov. 4^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 12:1-4
  • Read: Hebrews 12 & Leviticus 20-21
  • See also: Ps.110;
• Nov. 11^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 12:5-17
  • Read: Leviticus 22-23
  • See also: Prov. 3:11-12; Num. 16:22; Rev. 22:6; Isa. 35:3; Deut. 29:18; Gen. 25:29-34, 27:30-40.
• Nov. 18^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 12:18-29
  • Read: Leviticus 24-25
  • See also: Deut. 4:11-24, 5:22-27; 9:3-19; Gen. 4:1-10; Ex. 19:12-22, 20:18-21; Hag. 2:6.
• Nov. 25^th: Sermon based on Hebrews 13
  • Read: Hebrews 13 & Leviticus 26-27
  • See also: Lev. 4:3-12, 7:12, 16:27; Gen 18:1-8, 19:1; Jos. 1:5; Ps. 50:14-23, 118:6; Hos. 14:2; Isa. 63:11; Jn. 19:20